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What is a Cocktail?

I'm pretty sure if it's served with a miniature umbrella it is by definition a cocktail. Multiple fruit juices are another tip off.
Assuming there isn't a legal classification for spirits called cocktails it's fun to consider the working definition.

If a cocktail is Whiskey with a flavoring agent added does that make something like American Honey or Red Stag a bottled cocktail? They are obviously flavored whiskeys but isn't that what a Manhattan or an Old fashioned is?

When you finish a whiskey in a Port or Sherry or Cognac barrel aren't you just slowly adding those flavors to the whiskey? Does that make the finished Scotch and Whiskeys a cocktail of sorts? Angels Envy a Bourbon Cocktail? McCallan 12 a Scotch Cocktail?

Suppose you vat a Rye and a Bourbon? Bourbon and Rum? Rye and Vermouth? Are they cocktails or creative vatings? Or both?

If you soak a cherry in Brandy for a few weeks and then drop it into a pour of Bourbon is it a minimalist cocktail or a whiskey with a cherry?